Bishop David Zubik's Statement on the church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas

We are all grieving for our Baptist sisters and brothers in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Please join me in upholding in prayer those in that tiny town who have lost loved ones. Their witness of faith in the midst of their suffering has been an inspiration to us all.

However, we are also mourning for the state of a nation where massacres are becoming commonplace. We need to acknowledge and address a culture where too many of our movies glorify violence, too many television shows use violence as entertainment, and an increasing number of people use guns as the go-to option for expressing anger.

We need to reclaim a culture of life and a civilization of love, in which people actually solve problems by helping others. We need to refocus our entertainment, so that instead of encouraging violence, it inspires us with stories of selfless love and service. There will always be wounded souls who seek to lash out in anger. We need to do everything possible to make it unthinkable and difficult to express that anger with a gun.